Secondary Research / Quantitative Data

For my research I have decided to look up statistics I can use for future purposes and things I can use for my film. I think that some if not most of these facts will be used in the voice-over and stand-up part in my Documentary. I will explore Lowflying, a magazine dedicated to Caterham owners and enthusiasts which will hopefully give me more information on up and coming events for me to film at. I want to be able to use this as another way to show the audience in my Documentary that it is more than just a car it is some peoples job to be an enthusiast and to write a magazine on Caterham's.

Caterham statistics list

2014 Caterham 620R 2.7 seconds 0-60

2014 Caterham R500 Superlight SV 2.7 Seconds 0-60

R500 Powertrain:

259bhp

6-speed gearbox

front engine rear wheel drive

150mph top speed

0-60mph: 2.7 Seconds
0-100mph: 10.97 Seconds

£36,995

Caterham Cars - Wikipedia

History

The Caterham never existed as a start-up brand. Lotus Engineering first released the 'Lotus Eleven' in 1957 when designed by former Royal Air Force pilot Colin Chapman, they sold 2,500 cars priced at £1,036 each making them £259,000. The name 'seven' was passed down from a scrapped Lotus model. The first generation lotus only had 40bhp which is tiny compared to today's Caterham 620S which has 310bhp. This 270bhp evaluation took a while. Lotus were still stuck in Formula 2 and they weren't selling any cars! The next car they made was the Lotus Seven S2 in 1960 which was later evolved into the Super Seven in 1961 which had a Ford Cosworth engine in it. Following on, there came the Lotus Seven S3 in 1968 and the massively changed S4 in 1970. Lotus were evolving each day and these cars were growing in popularity. In 1973 The Steel Brothers in New Zealand who owned Caterham Cars bought the rights to the '7' from Lotus. The current model that they bought was the Series 4 but they used all the parts. They had to switch to the Series 3. They didn't just start making the series 3 they made their own version which we see today as the 'Roadsport' and the 'Superlight'. They are an identical evolution. After that, you had the '1600 Sprint' from 1980 to 1992 and the 'Seven Classic' until 1998 which lead to the '1.4 K-Series' and 'Series Supersport', We were then given the 'Road-Sport' in 1996 which was a big seller. It inspired the slightly faster 'Superlight' and 'Superlight R'. The R300 and R400 graced the roads for the first time in 2002 which just began to scale up the amount of attraction Caterham were getting. Their progression was huge as their cars were fun, fast and open wheeled which made them unique. A few anniversary versions later and we are given the most famous car they make. In 2004 the record-breaking R500 which goes from 0-100 in 10.97 seconds and 0-60 in 3.14 seconds. This was revolutionary at Caterham as this car was now appearing on the likes of Top Gear getting a 1:17. 9 which put it ahead of the Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari Enzo, Pagani Zonda F and many more so people started talking. When you see one in the street you aren't screaming Super-Car but according to the statistics, it is. And that was only in the cold.

List of Top Gear test track Power Lap Times

Lowflying

I have read the March 2017/2018 magazines. I read the 2017 one because my father was actually in it. He has an R400 which has been previously modified to be an R490 but he was in the magazine because he had his car painted 'Peppermint White' with a black stripe down the middle to 'Porsche Riviera Blue' with a 'Mclaren Orange' triple stripe. The major factor for his car being in the magazine, however, was because he got a 620R nose cone put on because he previously had the standard R400 nose cone on it. No-one had ever done this before so now we have been to car meets and he has inspired a lot of people to do the same and change their nose cone. I think that this has also played a part in inspiring me to make this project. The reason I read the  March 2018 magazine is that I need to see up an coming events to go to and film at. Such as the April 2nd open day, the Yeovilton Airfield meet which I could use to film in an open area on March 24th, also a cheddar gorge meet on April 29th. These, yet may they all be early, are going to be dates that I film it. I will need to generate a lot of footage at these events so that when it comes to my stand up part, I have a lot to talk about and the film lasts 25-30 minutes.  My stand up and voice-overs can only last so long in between shots so to be able to make it last, the footage both needs to be of a big quality and quantity. When it comes to the edit I will have a lot to work with so it will take a while to both get it up to standard and to the length of time. Not only that but I will make two versions, one will be the one I want peer reviewed and one will be the one where I take the information from the peer review and use it to make the film better a.k.a final cut.

I have read more than one because they come out every month so every time it comes through the post I read it. They talk about up and coming events, people projects, events and results of things that have already happened, for example, the Caterham Academy results. Let's not forget, this is an award-winning magazine that won 'Classic & Sportscar Club Magazine Of The Year 2014' and admirer Martin B said: "This is our club magazine and the recognition shows how we have all helped contribute in some way".  They even have a website called "Lotus Seven Club' which is where all owners turn to for high profile Caterham events but some are more local on Facebook groups and only include at least 10 people. Even I have gone on their website for more information on where and when to shoot some more community footage since I need as much as I can get for a 25-30 minute Documentary.

In conclusion, I have analyzed data and looked it up. I found some useful R500 stats that I will definitely use for my film. Whether that is just a brief mention or a subject I go on to talk about it. I have searched and found the crucial history/origin of Caterham and how it came to be, again, definitely going to use that. I hope to get more people interested in this subject by bringing in statistics, which is what people wanted by voting for it in my survey. I want to make this an interesting and inspiring subject to all ages and not just bore the youths with a bunch of historical facts which is what the elders want. A balance will be needed and that should be easy, just include the crucial stats and cut out the things that aren't at least eyebrow-raising so it isn't boring. Obviously, the cinematography will help keep people intrigued but there is no guarantee because if this is going on youtube, there are billions of people that won't be interested. On the other hand, there are going to be a massive bunch others who are, hopefully.